I'll Take You Back To The Start
by sammie503
Summary: A little one shot of depression. When the Volturi found out about Renesmee, they destroyed her and tried to do the same with Bella so Edward sacrificed himself, joining them. But a promise that he made Bella brings him back to her, once a year.


I didn't rush myself today, not today. Today was my only day off in the year. The one day I had to truly relax. Everyday I looked forward to now. My world, my life, my heart revolved around this day. April 14th was our day.

I walked - actually walked at a human pace through the woods. I ignored the main house, eager to get to the cottage. Any other day I would be running like crazy but this year I was scared. I was scared beyond belief and I didn't know what I would find in our home. How bad would it be this year? Alice had tried to warn me but what could I do? I had to see it for myself. I had to see him.

I walked across this empty land, I knew the pathway like the back of my hand

It'd been a year since I'd been to this place but I knew I could reach the small cottage with a blindfold. It was like breathing, simple. Like loving, easy. _Loving. _I sighed. Loving was anything but easy. Yet you couldn't really do anything about it. Once it was there, it was there for good. That's why I made my way through the thick forest to the tiny house that would forever be ours. The wooden door was the same. The shutters were closed, the chimney stack dormant and empty. Anybody passing by would assume it deserted. Only four people in the world knew it was inhabited for one day each year. Alice's knowledge was a given. We knew why she kept our secret, but why would he? Why did Aro let him come back to me?

I approached the door, opened it without a seconds hesitation, and searched the interior.

"Edward?" I whispered, too afraid that no one would answer. He wasn't waiting for me in the front room. This was the first thing I noticed. He always waited for me in the front room. He always scooped me up in his arms ad took me off to our room where we would spend the rest of the day until he had to leave again. But this year, Alice was right. Edward wasn't waiting in the front room.

"I'm here Bella," he replied form the back porch. I ran to him where the French doors stood open. He sat in the old lawn chair not facing me. He was different, that much I could tell. A small part of me shattered inside. I ran to him.

"Oh Edward." I breathed in his scent, soaked myself in it, drank it in.

"Bella," was the only reply I got. He held me close to him, wrapping his arms around my tightly. It was different. His ruby red eyes weren't the only change about him over the last thirty years. He was growing colder, more distant every year. I knew this but I'd take what I could get of him, knowing that I was losing Edward. I was losing my Edward.

And he knew it too.

He wasn't the first vampire to go crazy and certainly wouldn't be the last. He was slipping away to somewhere I couldn't bring him back. When the Volturi had destroyed our child, and tried to do the same to me, Edward sacrificed himself. He joined the Italian coven for me. He was a captive so I could be free. Something I would never forgive him for. Living away from me was killing him. The way he was going, he'd soon be useless to the Volturi and we all knew what they'd do to him, they'd recycle him like any other vampire. They would kill him rather than let him free.

"Edward, Edward I love you," I sobbed tearlessly, unable to contain it anymore. He rubbed my back, using what little sense he had left to soothe me.

"I love you Bella," he said back. It was forced, as if he were far away and had better things to think about. I knew he meant it though, meant it with everything in him. It's just that in his head, we were already dead and together again. So why put your heart and soul into this world when there was a much better one inside his head? I pulled him down with me to the floor where we stood. He wrapped his arms tighter around me automatically and we stayed like this the rest of the day.

I told him what I'd been up to the last year. What he had missed. Unfortunately I couldn't tell him much, I had really paid attention. When I ran out of things to say I made some up, trying in vain to bring back a sliver of my Edward to me.

He was trying, I could see that and I loved him for it. We spent April 14th on the back porch of our home. When it grew dark he didn't fight it when I said I was going back with him. Every year before he had known enough of what was going on to refuse me. He said I had to live. I had to exist. I had to stay free, that's why he wasn't.

But this year was different, after all. This year he didn't know any better than to follow me to the airport where we took a private jet going straight to Volterra.

This year we weren't going to separate. We would never be apart again. He was more or less a zombie, I took his hand and led him to the city. It was sunny outside, which I was counting on. They saw us before we did anything.

"Isabella! What a grand surprise."

"Please," I begged, holding Edward's hand protectively as if he were a young child.

"Oh Bella, really." They took a furtive step toward us. I tried to shield Edward but his head snapped up, took in the figures in front of us and for the first time in a long time, realized exactly what I was doing. He gave me a pained, betrayed looking face and took a protective stance in front of me. It shattered and healed my heart a thousand times to see him do this. I didn't think him capable of doing this anymore. I squeezed his hand and he looked down at me again. I smiled up at him, my first smile in what felt like forever, to let him to know that it was going to be okay. That I knew what I was doing. He relaxed his stance and the cloaked figures did the same.

"So, shall we go see Aro?" they asked. I shook my head softly.

"Edward, my love. Promise me something," I murmured into his ear, taking us a step closer to the sunlight.

"Yes?" he breathed, following me. I knew he'd follow me anywhere.

"Come back to me."

I closed my eyes and took us a few more steps until we reached the sunlight. They pounced quickly while my mind was elsewhere.

"_Bella it will be okay. Just promise me you'll be safe." He held onto me so tight I thought I might melt into him. I kissed him roughly, unable to let go of him. Alice had to step forward and pull me off of him. _

"_Wait! Promise me something in return," I begged. Alice released me and I ran into his arms. He held me to him and I heard a sob break from his chest. "Promise me you'll come back to me."_

"_I love you Bella," he breathed into my ear. Sobs wracked my body and I wept dryly. The waiting guard behind him huffed impatiently. Alice growled at them, shifting into a crouch. _

"_I love you."_

_He pulled away and looked me in the eyes. _

"_I'll come back to you."_


End file.
